Ashwini Vaishnaw, the recently appointed Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, has said that the new intermediary rules will empower users and create a responsible social media ecosystem in the country.
The new rules, which came into effect on 26th May, have proved to be controversial. However, soon after his appointment, Vaishnaw made clear that Twitter will have to follow India’s laws. In his first public comments after his appointment, he said:
“Law of the land is supreme, Twitter must follow the rules.”
He posted the comments exclusively on Koo, India’s own micro-blogging platform.
Updates on the Twitter fiasco
After it failed to comply with the intermediary rules, Twitter maintained that it intends to comply with them. However, the UP Police filed an FIR against the social media platform for spreading misinformation. Soon after, the Delhi Police filed an FIR against Twiter for violating the child pornography law.
The Centre last week informed the Delhi High Court that Twitter has lost intermediary immunity, and the High Court iterated that the government can act against Twitter if it breaches IT rules.
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